


Cheerful and Explosive

by Choxy



Series: The second padawan [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:27:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Choxy/pseuds/Choxy
Summary: One month in and everyone knows:Sometimes blowing things up is just what Tabitha does.Anakin and the 501st didn't.Now they do.It could've been worse (and Anakin isn't complaining but don't tell Obi-Wan that).
Relationships: (Tha last two are only mentioned), 212th Attack Battalion & Original Female Character(s), Ahsoka Tano & Original Female Character(s), Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Original Female Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Female Character(s)
Series: The second padawan [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594390
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Cheerful and Explosive

For one hour Anakin Skywalker and the 501st have been fighting against Separatist forces defending a large droid factory and to say that the Jedi Knight is getting worried would be a huge understatement.   
He isn't worried about their actual fighting, they are holding themselves extremely well considering the circumstances. What makes him uneasy is that Ahsoka and Tabitha have not called in once since they sneaked behind enemy lines.   
And they should have... twenty minutes ago. 

The only thing stopping Anakin from barging right through hundreds of battle droids is the training bond he shares with his padawan.   
It's strong and bright and calm. A reassuring river flowing steadily between the two of them, binding them together. There's no sign that Ahsoka is any danger and he knows that that should be reassurance enough but he can't make the queasy feeling in his stomach go away.   
He has learned to listen to his instincts back when he was a young boy and those instincts tell him that something will happen - and soon. 

His instincts weren't lying. 

A big explosion rocks the battleground, all sound of blaster fire momentarily drowned out by the deafening volume. 

Anakin turns to the source of the blazing red flames now licking at the blue sky of desert-like the planet they are on. He prepares himself for the sight of one of their few AT-TE's wrecked and burning but what actually originates the flames surprises the Jedi.   
A destroyed AAT is spewing red-orange flames, droids scattering away from the devastation like scared animals. 

They didn't do that, did they? Something's off...

Anakin activates his wrist-com.  
"Rex, did one of ours hit that tank?" There's a small pause filled with crackles before the clone captain replies. Even his through his helmet he sounds as perplexed as Anakin.  
"Negative, sir."   
"Well, not that I'm complaining but do we know where it came from?"  
"No, sir, but Hardcase is already working on pinpointing its exact location."   
"Good. Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth for now and focus on turning those tinnies into scrap metal."  
"With pleasure, sir!" 

The explosions don't stop. One after one, tanks and large groups of droids are taken out by hefty blaster bolts raining down on them, making it easy for the Republic forces to pick out the rest. 

After only half an hour, all tinnies are scraped and/or burning. 

The battlefield is eerily silent after the last droid falls to the ground in a heap.   
Thankfully, the unknown blaster bolts have ceased and are not firing on them too.   
Looks like whoever's the shooter is on their side.   
Excellent! Made this easier and Anakin can go look for the two missing padawans way sooner. 

"Get ready to move forward!" He says into his comlink. He's eager now that the tides have turned to get this mission over with. 

A chorus of energetic "Yes, sir!" reaches his ears over the com. Evidently, he isn't the only eager one in this battalion. 

Ten minutes later, they're moving fast in the direction of the front gate.   
With most of their active forces down, the Separatists have little means to ensure the factory's safety unless they want to send in half-assembled battle droids and tanks.   
They may be stupid but not that stupid. 

As they draw closer to the main entrance of the droid factory, the structure of an enormous artillery cannon comes into sight, but also the familiar shape of a teenage Togruta. 

She's casually leaning against the gate, arms crossed in front of her chest and a smug grin on her orange face. 

A quick once over confirms that his padawan's okay and uninjured. Thank the Force!  
The tight feeling in his chest dissolves at the sight of Ahsoka, all nonchalant and relaxed. 

That is until he realizes that he can't spot the little human girl Ahsoka is more often than not accompanied by.

'No. Just no. Obi-Wan will kill me.' 

This is her first real mission with the 501st and Anakin was practically ordered by Obi-Wan to keep an eye out for the girl. 

Frankly, the Jedi Master had looked ready to abort his own mission in a nanosecond if Anakin or Tabitha had said something.   
During and after the whole briefing Anakin had received from the council and then the personal talk with his old Master, there had been a furrow in his brow and his lips were pressed firmly together.   
That plus the thoughtful beard-stroking tick Obi-Wan had going on had peeked Anakin's own concern.   
So, he raised the question and asked what could possibly go wrong on a rundown mission like this one. Small factory, barely sufficient security. 

As it turns out, Tabitha can be quite reckless in her techniques and attracts trouble like a magnet.   
As if the stunt back on Christophsis hadn't already proven that, it seems that the padawan has kept the entirety of the 212th on their toes. Even on the most basic operations that somehow turned sourer than they should.

To be completely honest, at that moment, Anakin had been torn between laughing at or pitying Obi-Wan.  
The man never got easy companions. First Master Qui-Gon, then himself, and now Tabitha. None of them known for their ability to stay out of trouble.

In the end, though, the younger Jedi had kept to laughing at his Master in silence and outwardly only reassured Obi-Wan that he'd keep an eye out for the girl. Amusement still weaved into that sentence somehow, but Obi-Wan paid it no attention and only stalked off to finally get ready for his own assignment with a grumbled: "You'll need more than two eyes." 

After that, the Knight had actually almost forgotten about his Master's oddly overly concerned behavior. 

Until, surprisingly, in the next hour, Rex had come to him with the news that at least ten men from the 212th had come to talk to him before they had to depart to tell (more like threaten) him to watch out for the kid.

Now he can almost see why.

Point is, none of them want the wrath of the whole 212th on them. Which will happen if Tabitha somehow got injured.

'Wait a minute!'   
Ahsoka wouldn't look so at ease if something had happened to the other girl.   
These two are as close as Obi-Wan and himself, always bickering and teasing but also caring for the other at a level probably not appropriate for a Jedi. But hell if Anakin cared. Friendship is something to be cherished, he should know. And it comes in handy in situations like this one.

'Okay, good. No getting murdered by angry friendlies yet.' Anakin actually sighs in legitimate relief. Inconceivably, of course. No point in showing he got, maybe, a bit worked up about this. And actually feared Cody's men more than separatists for a few minutes. Only a little bit. 

Back to his padawan for now. The other one will reveal herself soon enough.

"So, Snips, why haven't you called in?" Anakin's tone is half chiding and half-joking.   
Ahsoka pushes herself away from the gate and casually strolls over to them. "Well, hello to you too, Skyguy. Good to see you in one piece. And to answer your question, we couldn't. They have trackers here, so we would've led them straight to us." 

"And what did you do then?"  
The Knight asks his young padawan. Surely they wouldn't have just waited for everything to play out on the battlefield.   
"Oh, we helped all right." Ahsoka answers and gestures to the large cannon standing only a few feet away from them. 

All of a sudden, a mop of black hair pops out behind the huge ordnance, a big smile on her pale face. 

'Ah, found the rogue padawan.'

"That was awesome!" Tabitha cheers joyfully, green eyes as bright as Coruscant's lights. 

"What was awesome?" Anakin inquires curiously, now turning fully to his former Master's new padawan. She's happier than he's seen her ever before.

"This!" She answers as if he should've known, the delighted pitch never leaving her voice and motions with big gesticulations to the artillery cannon.   
"I've always wanted to try one of these. They're fantastic. Immobile but accurate and their firepower almost makes up for every weakness. They're as armored as every tank the CIS has and thus hard to take out without big ordnance." 

Anakin can only stare at the girl in shock.   
Alright, Rex had told him about Tabitha's interest in weapons after Christophsis but to memorize even the enemy's battery and their strengths and shortcomings is highly remarkable.   
The Jedi isn't the only one impressed if the silence from the clones is anything to go by. He imagines he can even hear a few quiet whistles. 

He doesn't miss the whispered "Nerd." coming from Ahsoka or that fond smile she only holds for the younger girl appearing on her lips. 

"If it is so good, why haven't the Separatists used it against us? I take it the cover fire from before came from here, then they could've dealt some good damage." Anakin questions and scrutinizes the metal beast.   
The fact that the separatists haven't used them rubs him the wrong way.   
Could they be planning something?

Tabitha sheepishly rubs her neck and responds, eyes twitching away from him every few seconds.  
"Well, normally it's used against aircrafts but with a little tweaking I managed to get it to fire on their own tanks and troops." 

Huh, clever, Anakin has to acknowledge that.   
What she did wasn't actually reprogramming the machine but it still had to be difficult. 

"Well, good thinking you two."   
Both Padawans glow at the praise even though Ahsoka tries to hide it a little. Out of spite. 

Wow.   
Now Anakin knows how Obi-Wan felt with him as a Padawan. Getting him a spiteful, cocky padawan must be some kind of revenge on the master's side but Anakin can't deny that training the Togruta has done him some good in the past month. 

Speaking of his former Master.

"Does Obi-Wan know you get so cheerful when you can blow things up? Because if he doesn't I think he'll be displeased when he finds out." He emphasizes that last part purposely, raising a questioning eyebrow and fighting down the upturn of his lips.

Tabitha only smiles at him shyly. 

The difference between her prior behavior and now surprises him.   
She's confident when it comes to her interests but shy when she gets too much attention. Good to know since this will most definitely be not their last interaction, nor their last fight together.

"He knows. And yes he voiced his worries and uneasiness when it gets to me and blowing things up." 

"'Course he did." Anakin chuckles and shakes his head. The man brought this onto himself. Tabby's tumultuous behavior is his problem to deal with.

Besides, right now they've got another.

"Well, nevermind. Let's get this over with. You have any idea how to breach this gate fast?"  
He asks and at the same moment, the cannon Tabitha still has control over swings around and aims directly at the large door.

"I have one but you'll want to take a few steps back. It's rather...explosive." 

Anakin should probably be a tad bit scared of the joyful smile on her face but right now he likes her thinking. 

They will surely get along great in the future if the girl can shake off Obi-Wan's stickler-to-the-rules-attitude.

Anakin, Ahsoka, and the 501st all take cover behind sandy boulders and outcrops before a gigantic explosion rocks the earth underneath their feet.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really sorry for being so inactive.   
> I won't make any excuses but I still hope you enjoyed this little silly piece. 
> 
> Thank all of you for all the kudos on the other two stories. I hadn't expected that. Thank you 😚
> 
> Now, quick question:  
> Next story? A possible version of Order 66 or something along the line of Rako Hardeen? Or maybe something entirely different. I'm up for suggestions.


End file.
